Fistful of Thrones
by Sailus
Summary: Using the Nobledark Imperium AU. Jane Shepherd, hero of the Skyllian Blitz and savior of the Milky Way, was now stranded in the Milky Way. Or at least a version of the very same galaxy. Things become rather questionable when this former commander ends up living in a fascist utopia where secret police monitors all communication, taxes are paid in troops, and live with total war.
1. Intro

_It is the 41st millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Eternal Emperor and Empress have been joined in their holy union. He is the last relic of a lost age when hope and wisdom ruled the galaxy, still clinging to his purpose of forging a better future, and she is the last remnant of an ancient pantheon, a mother watching over dying children brought low by their own hubris. Together, they are the Masters and Guardians of Mankind and Eldar, the keepers of the Last Alliance, the embodiments of the Imperium to which a hundred sapient species swear their fealty._

 _At the core of the Imperium is Humanity, its teeming multitudes ever resilient, stubbornly carving out a future amongst the hostile stars. The greatest of Man's allies are the Eldar, ancient and wise, their shared bond forged in battle and sealed in blood millennia ago. Since then, others have been judged worthy to join in the light of the Imperium, to stand with Men and Eldar as fellows: the industrious Demiurge, enigmatic Tau, countless strains of Abhumans, and much more._

 _Yet for all the Imperium's numbers, it is barely enough to stave off the forces that would tear it down. United under savage Beasts, the Orkish hordes throw themselves at the great edifice of the Imperium. The Necrons are awakening to a changed galaxy and seeth at the primitives who would dare harbor their greatest foes the Eldar. From the galactic east, the Tyranids have made landfall and sweep over countless worlds in their hungering tide. In the shadows lurk the Dark Eldar, reveling in the carnage of a galaxy at war. And from the Immaterium, the Chaos Gods brood and plot their eternal vengeance, served by the twisted Chaos Eldar._

 _To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold trillions. It is to live in the last bastion of civilization as the darkness draws near. These are the tales of those times. Forget the stories of peace and harmony, for they are fables of a gentler time when the world still made sense. Remember the stories of struggle and defiance, full of brotherhood and sacrifice, for those, are the ones that really matter. Peace is a distant dream growing ever fainter, and there is only war as Men and Eldar hold the line for the promise that has been whispered through the generations, from father to son, from mother to child: that there is good left in the world, and that is worth fighting for._


	2. Chapter 1: Dawn

"After _the War of the Beast, hundreds of trillions had died. Victory in the price of blood was too steep, thus Terra prepared for war to keep the peace."_

 _\- M.31 The First Total War_

The Crucible was drawing out a beam of deadly emblem lights from the bottom up as Commander Jane Shepherd ran to embrace death with open arm. For she did do exactly that when stretching both limbs wide to hug the warm light which dissolved her physical body, flesh, metal, bones and all. There was nothing left of the spacer who grew up on nomadic Alliance ships, the war hero that protected the colonists from the slavers, the one that saved the Council. Not even a spake of dust was spared from being intergraded into the mass relay network.

From now on, there wouldn't be a difference between organics and synthetics within the Milky Way. There would no longer be wars of extermination between the two lifeforms but she knew Anderson didn't approve of her actions. He might say, "Why to run the risk of the Reapers coming back if something like them could be reactivated?" or, "What right do you have to impose your will upon all living things in this galaxy?" She told herself that the destruction of the Reapers was a short-term solution to the synthetic question, and that this was the permanent answer to prevent things like the Geth Uprising or the Luna Rogue VI incident. The thought made her nostalgic as her legs were disintegrating.

To control the Reapers was a tempting offer that the Illusive Man fell for hook, line, and sinker. She imagined having the power to wield the armada of mobile fortresses then use them as a sword of justice to enforce peace amongst the stars. It was disillusioned rather fast when thinking about the fact that it wouldn't prevent the development of AI or AI uprisings. All that it ensured is a brutal and efficient way of snuffing out resistance, yet there will always be resistance when technology exponentially advance. This power to trump all powers she would hold for a while, and in that time, the sweet nectar of control will rot her inside out. For a woman with all the knowledge of past galactic civilizations did little to stem the tide of corruption from sitting on a throne of iron. These thoughts were being processed as her arms mixed with the heavenly light.

The very conclusion that Shepard arrived at was also flawed as well when she pondered on it. In essence, she agreed with the mad ramblings of an indoctrinated Saren. At least with the particular line of "Strength of both and weakness of none" sounded true. However, by no means did this deter all existing civilization from obtaining more power to inflict more self-harm. If anything, the Crucible laid the groundwork for allowing races for ascension to a higher state of existence with much more destructive capabilities. It had just shown the galaxy that given enough knowledge and time, races can change all lifeforms on a molecular level. So why not something more? In fact, Jane Shepherd very well could be dancing to the Reaper's tune when agreeing with synthesis, and that she was given an illusion of choice when the Catalyst knows full well which path the commander will walk. These things flicker back and forth between the brain matter when the rest of her body was taken bit by bit.

People, events, and places all blurred to remind the N7 operative what she was dying for, yet the one lingering person in her mind was an alien she fell in love with. There was Gerrus with his adorable awkwardness when nervously shifting around on their date to her time using the Turian as a body pillow flashing before her eyes. If anything, the glowing lights were warm to the touch, or so she thought. In reality, there was little to no receptor left on her skin for her to feel anything as they were the first things to be absorbed into the Crucible. The sense of serenity engulfed Jane's body in every passing second. Her consciousness felt like it was being stretched thin then wrapped by the network to analyze every nook and cranny of the person to understand how a Human with Reaper technology inside her can live in symbiosis. Normally, there would be nothingness awaiting her much in the same way a person can feel, if they could, before they are even an embryo. Unfortunately for Shepard, there was no comforting oblivion to usher her beyond life.

* * *

Elsewhere, in a dimension far far away, the Dark Gods' echoing laughter resonated with the entirety of the Warp and even leaked into realspace. The War in Heaven some millions of years ago and the Age of Strife 20.000 years ago thrust the Chaos Gods into the forefront of the galactic stage. In a spectacle of eternal war have all known sapient lifeforms lived under as the norm the Ruinous Powers intended. Any strong emotion feeds the will of the Chaos Gods, and what is more powerful than suffering itself. Intentionally, unintentionally, inflicted on others, or upon yourself, it matters not when understanding that all forms of suffering fueled the bloodthirsty gods. For in their quest to gain power from the mortals and best the other gods, they have managed to establish a dark galaxy that knows only war.

One such god is Tzeentch, or this is the name given by most Imperial citizens when reciting vile incantations to call upon their power. For it is true that this god of planning, sorcery, intelligence, and change didn't truly have a gender nor sex. The Warp entity can simply change their appearance on a whim to confuse the cultists for their amusement. It is more so on a culture by culture bases that the name Tzeentch is thought of to be masculine or feminine. In the Warp when often a second within the Warp is two seconds to one year in realspace. On this day in realspace, the god of magic call upon his foul warpcraft to summon some more champions from another universe. The god remembered the last summons, a few years back when a daemon-slayer from his version of Mars arrived to sabotage Nurgle's machinations. Another was an Abhuman intelligence operative from her version of Proxima Centauri who prevented a Khornite Greater Daemon from being summoned. Now, the god was to draw in another from her dying breathes to unknowingly be a servant of Chaos. For all in realspace have been tainted by the Warp and bears the mark of Chaos.

* * *

All of Shepard's senses were rendered useless by the darkness which held the eternal nothingness that met her. The mind was in a state like if one was falling for an hour or so. At first, the body reacts with fear from the inertia to only realize later that it was just a little different than sitting in a moving vehicle. Then, there a premonition like somebody was watching Jane's death from afar. At first, it was just an ever so slight tug that pulled on her psyche. Afterward, that tug became a violent pull which was more akin to being dragged into hell itself as she endured the sensation of being burned alive. Finally, there was true stillness within her when the powers that be finished throwing her across several different realities.

* * *

"What'd you reckon that is Claus?" The girl fidgeting her overalls before asking the boy next to her. They were supposed to be tending to the fields but a crimson lighting had caught their attention. By the time their parents looked around to check the commotion, the twins were already investigating the unknown lifeless lady.

"Look, Hildrun! She's naked!" Now, Claus was pointing at the unmoving body which was stripped of all armor and most of her uniform along with it, exposing the underwear underneath. For the most part, although the sports bra and athletic shorts were scratched, they were by no means truly falling apart.

"I have working eyes too, domkop!" Pointing to both her eyes with a pinky and index finger from the right hand.

"Why is she glowing green?" Jane had also the same lights peeking out of her flesh that all lifeforms had back in her home universe after her so-called death.

"She fell from the void?" Giving a shrug back to Claus with clear uncertainty.

"That lady is not a Space Marine, Hildrun. Even the average super-soldier will end up burning up in the sky or become jelly when he hits the ground."

"So, you're saying it should end up with a splat instead of a thud when hitting the dirt. That just means she didn't fell from the sky."

"I guess?" Rubbing his chin as the little eleven-year-old brain of his tried to think of different possibilities which could explain why such a bizarre thing was before his eyes.

There was hollering and shouting from the back as the parents came walking over to see what their kids were ogling at. "Muder! Fader!" Hildrun shouted to get Claus' attention, "We've got to show them this!" She dragged her twin over with such force that the boy almost fell over.

When both blond children came over to their parents, the mother had both her hands on her hips ready to interrogate the kids while the father kneels down to meet them face-to-face.

"What did you do now?" The muder wearing a face that looked like it was ready to be hit with bad news.

"Nothing! I sware to Deus!" Hildrun said loudly and clearly to avoid another lecture.

"Honest, we didn't do anything this time! We just uh... Found a trespasser?"

"Trespasser?" The fader repeating the word to make sure he heard it right, "Tell us where they are," then turning to the mother, "Get the stubbers just in case." Which only got a nod from the woman as she ran back to the home to get the rifles.

"Now, you kids run along back to the haus and wait for me to return." He didn't want to take any chances with the kids around but the daughter turned around one last time before running off.

"Um... Papa, the trespasser. She might not be alive so..."

"Don't you be worried about me, a dead body is something I can deal with. Go on, get! Wait for me back at home."

* * *

There was pain all over the body as the aching from her limbs slowly came to a stop. When opening her eyes to gaze the clear blue sky above, Jane saw the binary suns emitting light from below the left side of her chest. That had made the commander realize that the armor she wore was practically non-existent other than bits and pieces left. The uniform under was also ruined as it was in tatters but miraculously enough, there was no sign of cuts or bruises on her body when Jane checked. In fact, it seems like her body was in the state that it was right before the Battle of London. That thought made her sad as she suddenly remembered all the people in her life that she was no longer a part of. Missing even the mandibles twitching when speaking words bombarded Shepard with more sorrow as she gave a sad smile to herself.

Maybe this was the fabled afterlife or reincarnation that the few religious people like Ashley Williams told about. Well, it wasn't bad but it looked like it could become boring real fast. The suns brought down warm light from the sky that Jane could bath in for a long while before it got too warm for her. Being a spacer, she knew her pale skin would quickly become orange or worst, get sunburns. And it's not like she was exactly covered head to toe in cloth to prevent that.

With some urgency or in this case, boredom, Jane came to her feet by pushing herself off the ground with her hands. First, her sight was taking in the endless stretch of crops that she had never seen before covering to the horizon. Then, her ears picked up clicking sounds on her right by the metal picket fence, it was a familiar noise like a heat sink being slapped in.

"Hold it right there partner!" said a male voice to her right followed by a different female voice, "No sudden movements now, you hear!" That had made her instinctively reach for her trusted pistol on her right thigh that was no longer there. In fact, not even the holster remained on her hip. The lack of weight on her back or hip meant that she wasn't carrying anything behind her, most certainly not weapons. With the realization that she had no ranged weapons on her, Jane knew she was at the mercy of these people.

"Hands in the air and turn towards me very slowly!" The man said while the woman whispered, "You tie her up real good while I stand guard." Which got a nod from her husband who thought it would be for the best.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance Navy."

"What?" asked the woman as she slowly walked up to Jane.

"Council Specter Jane Shepard?"

"Missy, I have no idea what you're talking about." The man took out the rope from his bag that was slung behind him.

"Is this a colony of some sort?"

"Ha! Look at her trying to question us!" The wife gave off a short chuckle before walking right in front of Jane.

"Hold still dagnabit," The man quickly took Shepard's hands to tie them up faster than she could react, "There ya go," by the time it took for Jane to blink twice was all he needed to capture her.

Of course, the N7 operative could have resisted capture and wounded or maybe even kill these people. But honestly, Jane didn't want to take the chance of receiving a round at point-blank range nor harm these local farmers. Now that she thought about it, angles didn't need to wield bolt-action rifles to keep her out of heaven. If she was sure of anything, it was that she was most likely still alive and not in a coma. What was more strange was that these people were using bullets instead of solid metal cubes loaded into (what should have been) the modern micro-mass accelerator guns Jane was used to. The old bullet guns should have been phased out hundreds of years ago by the time she joined the navy. From then on, she knew that Jane Shepard had ended up in some backwater colony in the middle of nowhere.

* * *

 ** _Notes_**

 ** _For those curious, this story does, in fact, take place within the same universe as my other two Nobledark Imperium stories. I've been thinking about writing a Mass Effect to 40K crossover for some time now, but couldn't come up my own twist on it without looking like 'A World of Bloody Evolution' where half of it was depressing while still being true to the nature of vanilla 40K. There was also the fact that much of the Mass Effect-40K crossovers are from 40K into Mass Effect rather than the other way around, so I took a crake at it. I wanted a setting that was dark with (mostly) clear good and evil dichotomy. Something with an even mix of hope, suffering, heroics, and selfishness._**


	3. Chapter 2: Futurism

_"War? Which war are we talking about? Because this empire's history is just a series of wars since the First Black Crusade."_

 _\- Sharth o Tenelkan_

Jane was being brought to the town's enforcer station to have somebody properly arrest her for trespassing onto the farm.

"You know in most cases like this, I'd let you go scot-free but you know. Being naked and glowing green does make you look like a heretic, so I ain't taking no chances with you." The man with the scruffy earthy hair said after prompting her to walk in front of him.

"I said I don't know how I ended up on your land,"

"We heard you the first time," the blond woman next to the man said, "That's just not a believable story is all."

"What can I do to convince you?"

"Nothing, because you have barely any clothing clinging on to you and we don't know if anything you say is a lie."

The parents left the kids alone in the house while they took Shepard along a dirt path to town. Jane saw odd planets shes never seen before and discovered weird aliens in a few minutes. One such alien was some sort of spiky reptilian that was about five meters long and had twin devil horns on his head. What was odder was that another set of the same horns were protruding out of the cheeks on the face. It seems the beast was sluggish or unaware of its environment when the eyes gazed at Jane through the tiny slits along the metal container. The metal box shook a bit as the tracked vehicle pulling it drove pass in the opposite direction to where they were walking to. Jane broke the silence during after a bit as curiosity overtook her.

"What was that?"

"A farming trackcraft hauling cargo?" The answer seemed obvious to the wife.

"No, I mean the lizard inside the box,"

"You mean the Grox?" The husband interjected.

"Yea, that! Whatever that was! Tell me what the hell was that alien,"

"It's not a xenos when it's just livestock," The woman almost laughed, "That there was a Grox, it will try to gut anything it sees with those horns on their head. But by Deus, does their meat taste scrumptious."

"I would like some Grox stake right about now," the man said while licking his lips.

"Is that why the- Grox wasn't moving at all,"

"Oh yea, if you don't sedate the breeding ones while transporting, they're likely to thrash about and kill somebody." The wife was figuring out that this foreigner was genuine in her lack of knowledge of the most basic of animals within the Imperium. It was by the tone of Jane's voice and the hesitation which was the most telling.

"Wait, wait, wait! You're telling me that you've never heard of a Grox?"

Jane only gave a blank face like that of a wondering child, "Was I supposed to?"

"Yes! Haven't you at least heard of them when you were a kid?"

"Nope,"

"Where the hell did you grow up at?"

"I guess you could say I grew up on spaceships but I also lived on Earth for a time,"

"You've been to Ancient Terra!" The husband got excited about a second there and forgot he was escorting somebody.

"Yes? But nobody calls it Terra,"

"Nonsense, other than a few scholars, everybody in the Imperium calls it Terra. Are you sure you lived on Earth before?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" It seemed so obvious to Jane that Earth was called Earth instead of Terra, which only scientists might even consider naming it.

"You know, for a voidborn, you sure have tan skin,"

Now that was something Shepard was not used to hearing at all if anything, people often comment how pale her skin is, "I wasn't actually born on a ship, I just grew up on ones."

"Oh right, forgot that. I just assumed,"

"How pale did you think I was supposed to be?"

"About as white as a sheet of script dipped in fresh snow on Fenris. Also translucent enough like a jelly worm trapped in a cave for thousands of years without a peep of sunlight,"

Most of the references went over Jane's head without pause but she got the gest of it, "Really? That white and transparent?"

"Yup."

* * *

They walked for a few more minutes before they reached their destination. When Jane arrived at the town to first notice that the buildings didn't appear to be hab modules. It looked like they had welded in places that didn't look like the walls were meant to be fused together, bolted on extra window sills or mailboxes on the outsides. There just the lack of sleek, clean, smooth architecture that she was used to. Frankly, Jane felt a bit jarring taking in what the town looked like compared to the Citadel back home. The thought brought back a ting of sadness as she suddenly was hit with home-sickness.

Then, after walking for a block or two, Jane noticed a commotion from a large building like a warehouse where a door was slammed opened to have three people being kicked out with opulent clothing on them. The simple colors of purple, pink, and black made an unnaturally alluring impression on the Spectre. That was until she noticed that several women with guns shoved the group into the wall of the structure. One man was begging for his life while a woman was cursing out the women. Jane's eyes then met with the third in the group, who was a stoic man who stood in silence. Their gaze was cut off when Shepard quickly shifted to stare at the women that were now all lining up pointing their weapons at the group.

"Ready... Aim... Fire!" was the last thing the group heard before their heads exploded from the impact of the 14mm bolter shells. The munition digging into the skull then detonating after a few milliseconds to cause those lined up against the wall to splatter into red paste.

"Holy shit!" Jane was shocked by the casualness that the couple had for the whole affair. Shepard was familiar with violence, death, and the like. Yet that didn't prepare her for the nonchalant attitude the armor-clad women had when making that gory mess. Normally, people would pay attention to something like a firing squad shooting people right next to a street. There was an urge to spit out something and she breathed in the air in an attempt to collect herself from what she just saw.

"Don't draw attention to us," the wife said the words in a hushed tone into Jane's left ear, "You don't want to mess with them."

* * *

"Sister-Superior Gella, should we investigate that," pausing to ready her bolter and make sure her eyesight wasn't failing her, "Glowing person?"

"Although I wish to Sister Mirata," the officer looking at the chrono on her wrist to check the time, "We have a tight schedule to keep. The next raid is in Little Fenris, which is on the other side of town. So, pack your bags and move your ass! We're burning daylight here!"

* * *

Jane was baffled by the disturbing demeanor that all those around her held, "Did you both see that?" Frantically asking to make sure it wasn't just a hallucination she saw.

"Yup," the woman answered.

"Was that a summary execution in broad daylight?"

"And?"

"Don't you find that a little unnerving?"

"No, why should I? I've grown up them all my life."

"A-are you going to do the same thing to me?"

"Of course not! We don't have the authority to."

Somehow, the last answer didn't seem all that assuring for Jane. "We're just taking you to the enforcers to see if you're guilty of anything worthy of an execution. So you better have the truth let loose, or else you'll meet the noose."

The husband chimed in, "Very punny, dear."

There were no words Jane could conjure to describe the strange behavior displayed here. The streets had a guard force roaming around with firing squads shooting people. What was worse for Shepard was that the local population was so desensitized from the executions that they didn't even bat an eye when it was in their peripheral vision.

* * *

The enforcer station was an intimidating thing with sharp geometric shapes symmetrically protruding out of the building. These shapes formed to have something like a lion's mane to trick those entering to think the station was bigger than it really was. Near the entrance were two muscular arms holding up the ceiling of the lobby which was chiseled into the wall facing the outside. The floor was a colorful mosaic depicting a planet that Jane didn't recognize. Everything was vibrant and alive to the touch as she assumed most of these bright materials would be exotic to the locals. These people that Shepard assumed to be the enforcers were some sort of police force by the dark blue uniforms they wore. They had on either military ski caps or helmets like those used in World War 2 which would specifically cover the neck.

All turned to stare at Jane for a few seconds before going back to their business. There was paperwork to be done and no glowing woman was going to stop the officers from doing it. One woman waved over the group to show them where to stay as to not block traffic because they were just standing there. She had jet black hair with a short round nose and green eyes. The enforcer's height was a bit shorter than Shapard coming to about 175cm compared to the 185cm spacer. Body type between the two woman was different as well, it was clear that Jane had been athletic in the military while the enforcer was not fat, she definitely not fit either. It seemed to be that she was oozing with a very bland lifestyle on this backwater world.

"Becker," nodding to the wife, "Cnut," then nodding to the husband. "What the hell happened?" putting both her hands on her hip.

"Well Officer Aydar," Cnut gave a sheepish smile to the enforcer, "We here found this trespasser in our land and brought her to you," then leaning in to whisper, "She might be a heretic or mutant".

"Ah! Thank you for your concern. But I'll take it from here,"

"Be seeing you around then," Becker said as she started to leave.

"I'll be at the harvest festival this year," waving the couple goodbye then approaching Jane.

Aydar had skin almost as pale as Shepard's but with freckles on her face and eyes that were slanted slightly downward. Jane couldn't put her finger on it but Aydar might have been either Asian or Europen descended, Shepard just can't say on which. The enforcer then got up close behind Jane to hold her arms, "Let me get you out of this rope."

Taking the combat knife out from her hip to then slice apart the rope freeing Shepard. "Thanks, it feels ni-," before finishing her sentence, however, the mag-cuffs quickly came on her hands to lock them together. "What!?" Jane was enraged at being given freedom then having it be taken away so fast.

"Doesn't look like glow-paint," Aydar said after poking Shepard's exposed arm, "Let's see if you're filled with cybernetics," then using that same knife to prick a wound on Jane's hand. To her surprise, blood started coming out instead of the more common nutrient-paste or some abnormal colored plasma in cybernetics. "Well, aren't you an odd cybrid," said Aydar as she shoved Jane into a holding cell.

* * *

 ** _Notes_**

 ** _For those curious, I'm using this AU from 4chan's /tg/ which can be found here: 1d4chan /wiki/Category:Nobledark_Imperium_**


	4. Chapter 3: Electrocution

_"You should see the sense of wonder Feudal worlder Guardsmen have, especially when walking in a voidship for the first time."_

 _\- Commissar Wellenstein_

"You can't lock me up! I've done nothing wrong!" Yelling the words at the top of her lungs as Jane was shoved into the holding cell and Aydar locked the door behind her.

"Sorry, protocol and all that," then the officer activated her micro-bead by pressing it against her neck, "Operator, could you connect me to Tech-priest Ezekhaial?"

"Sure thing, a moment please," a woman said back from a room somewhere in this very same building.

There was static for a few seconds as the vox operator switched the lines between them to have it connected to the Tech-priest, "Yes, who is this?" the voice is filtered through devices in his neck to end up sounding artificial.

"Could you come down to holding cell #7 for a quick examination of a suspect?"

"They better be alive when I get there,"

"Yes, yes, I know you aren't a coroner Eezkhaial. Now, move your cog ass down here." There a small laugh from the other side before the Tech-priest cut off his line.

The cell was dark with only one flickering electro-torch on the wall. It was a curious thing for Jane to examine, the handle was made from imitation wood of some sort, while the top was a bulb shaped like a flame. This electro-torch looks light enough for her to walk around carrying if she had her hands untied, however, it was clamped in place with bolts. Then, came the growling from her stomach. The hectic turn of events had made her forget how hungry she was, not to mention that Jane didn't know the last time she ate anything.

"Hey, could I get some food in here!" yelling at Aydar who was still standing guard by the cell.

She quickly whipped out her shocker-baton to hit the metal bars sending electrical currents which made Jane shuffle back, "Keep quiet."

There were a few moments of silence that Shepard could practically see the stagnant air around her. She just couldn't keep herself from asking out of sheer boredom, "What year is it now?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking the questions here?"

"No! I'm genuinely curious since I have... Amnesia after I woke up!" thinking to herself that this should work as a cover story for now.

"Amnesia? Really?"

"Please, I truly don't know, and what's the harm in telling me common knowledge?"

Jane couldn't see but Aydar was rolling her eyes, "If you really want to know, the year is 4 12th of 8th 2.M40, but that really isn't accurate."

Jane wanted to scratch her head but opted to ask another question instead, "I have no idea what that series of numbers even mean,"

"It means, we are in the fourth most accurate time zone compared to Terra, the twelveth day of the eighth month of the year 39,002,"

"Could you run by that last number again?"

"The year 39,002,"

"Are we sure we're using the same calendar system?"

"I mean 39,002 years since the birth of the third and last prophet of Deus, Jesus. The first two being Zoroaster then Gautama." Aydar was shaking her head at the pure stupidity that Shepard had, "Didn't you ever heard of Katholian school?"

There was no way for Shepard to express the unbelievable timeframe she was starting to comprehend. Such a departure from her own understanding to exist in a universe which would be totally foreign to her. What she should have seen was structures of perfect geometry and all peoples living in luxury. Where want was non-existent, for resources were infinite. Some say it could be a Socialist utopia while others argue that it was the natural evolution of a post-scarcity society. Jane believed in the brighter or better future commonly depicted like in _Brave New World, Star Trek,_ and _The Culture_. Not the brutal evil regime of whatever state the locals lived under. Seeing as those on the street weren't exactly poor but wasn't middle-class either. Then the question of Humanity came to her mind, specifically, the evidence that Jane was the only one who seemed to have achieved the synthesis between machinery and organics.

At least one thing was consistent in the future, the Catholic Church still exists. Although Catholics from her own time would say that this looks nothing like the church other than the similarity in name and worshiping Jesus. Even then, the worshipping aspect might not even be the same thing as how Jane understands the definition during her time.

"Uhh..." Words failed to leave her mouth as the N7 operative tried to think of something to say, "Are you,"

The sentence was cut off abruptly by Aydar, "So help me, Deus, if you ask me one more time if I'm sure we're talking about the same prophets here, I _will_ come in there and start beating you up with this baton for asking me stupid questions,"

Faking an embarrassed laughter, Jane would now have to be careful with what she said, "You see, I don't think I'm from around here,"

Aydar lowered one brow while raising the other to give a combination of sarcasm and questioning face, "Yea, who would have thunk?" to say the very least, Shepard appeared to be a foreigner. But that would be rare since there weren't many Human civilizations left outside of the Imperium. In fact, there weren't many civilizations in general, left outside of the Imperium since the bulk of the Tyranid fleet arrived to eat the outer ring of the galactic east thought the officer.

Maybe Jane was wrong about the lack of synthesis the Human have, it could be so far into the future that the green glow from the initial fusion was long gone, "Can you interface or understand AIs?"

"By AI, I'm assuming you mean abominable intelligence. By interface, I'm also assuming actually controlling machines with my mind. In both cases, no."

She thought that this was a dashing hope that the universe was one that Jane Shepard could recognize but to no avail. Things didn't look optimistic for her, it could entirely be certain that she might have ended up in an alternate reality where all her efforts, comrades lost, and sacrifices were for not. That alone caused Jane's heart to beat faster from an overwhelming thought placed upon her mind. It was as if a newborn babe breathed in her first breath, Shepherd knew the universe saw fit to send her hurtling into this predicament, for better or worse. Worse, it was worse for her so far when she reminisces about at the lack of a comforting Turian. The C-Sec detective turned vigilante had this bad boy attitude about him in public which made him alluring when Jane temporarily worked with Cerberus. But it was that first time when she teased Garrus Vakarian with obvious flirting inside that calibration room did she saw how different he could be. She was pleasantly surprised by his reaction and more so, also his interest in her. Gone was his tough no-nonsense speech when he fumbled words and complements around Shepard.

Maybe this was what it feels like to be truly alone in the universe, like how Garrus felt when Jane died from the Collectors before Cerberus revived her. Finally, Jane's eyes got misty while she gave a hard kick to the wall in the back to let out her frustration. The sound echoing the bare cell to leave herself with thoughts for a few moments before the bars opened up. Then arrived Ezekhaial with Aydar to begin interrogating and examining her. "Shit," was the only word Shepard cursed under her breathe.

* * *

The Tech-priest came in with a heavy stride as his mechanical parts weighed him down. He barely appeared Human other than his frame giving away the distinctive upright four limbs primate shape. Even then, there was still the case of cybernetic tendrils waving around in the air as they stuck out of his back. Jane regretted looking up to meet the cybrid's eyes if one can call those things eyes in the first place. It was more along the line of cameras dug into the face to make an arachnid set of eyes. Skin and flesh still clung there to Ezekhaial's body where it wasn't replaced with gray metal. Definitely jarring for Shepard who was used to fussed flesh to cover the prosthetics instead of stitches along plates to bind the flesh together. These Tech-priest had more in common with Seren when his flesh fell off of his cybernetic skeleton than tender Humans. He was an ugly thing to Jane.

"Let's start with something simple to jog your memory _amnesia girl._ What is your full name and date of birth?" Aydar said while setting down a small metal table with the Tech-priest placing two foldable chairs.

Sweat was visible on Jane's forehead as she could get into a lot of trouble for what she is about to say, "My name is Jane Shepard and I was born on zero,"

"Let me stop you right there, are you going to use Terran time zone to tell us your date of birth?"

"Yes,"

"I was making sure. Fine, go on,"

"Eleventh of third, 154,"

"Wait, wait, wait! Does she look like an Eldar, Ezekhaial?" the officer said as she pointed to Jane and turned to the immobile man.

"Negative,"

"I thought so, not even Human nobles with rejuvenat treatments can live for ten thousand years. Or in your case, Abhuman nobles,"

"Uh..." clearing her throat to catch the two locals' attention.

"Oh yes, do go on,"

"M3." This had made Aydar laugh out into a hysterical outburst where she tried to catch her breath.

"You can't be serious, and here I thought you couldn't outdo yourself,"

All in quiet concentration had Ezekhaial been before he spoke out, "She's not lying,"

"I didn't quite catch that, what did you say?"

"My cogitators didn't detect any hint of lying on Shepard's facial and bodily expression,"

"Well, I trust your thinking machines more than my own mother, so she's either insane, brainwashed, or telling the truth. It can't possibly be the last one,"

Jane held up her cuffed hands to have them hold each other to form a sign of mercy, "Please, there must be some way for me prove myself that I'm perfectly sane!"

Ezekhaial did hold up one index finger into the air, with all sorts of machinery attached, to keep Aydar from speaking, "There is a way,"

The enforcer was genuinely startled by that, "There is!?"

"If what this _Jane Shepard_ said is true, then, in theory, I should be able to take a blood sample of her to find a pure Human genetic code without any divergence. As you should know, due to the Warp tainting us or mutating while living away from Terra for 30,000 years, there is no surviving Human left without some sort of genetic difference to the baseline Humans. Now, are you willing to take that test?"

The main pair of cameras in his eye sockets zoomed in as the smaller set of lenses underneath adjusted to focus in on Jane's face, "I'll take the test, I'm confident that I'll pass," she wasn't confident.

"I am no expert on this matter, but I do know the basics," the Tech-priest sliding the empty injector into his middle finger, "I really should be asking a Bio-priest to do this for me." His left hand attached a disinfectant sprayer to a finger to clean up the needle some more, "Brace yourself."

"Just get on with it," Aydar didn't feel patient to see Jane prove herself wrong.

When the injector stuck itself into Shepard's flesh, it didn't actually hurt at all, especially compared to who knows how many times she's been wounded. The odd feeling came in when the needle started drawing the blood out of her body, it just didn't feel right to her. There was the incentive urge to walk away from it but that was easily snuffed out with her military discipline. It was finished before Jane opened her eyes, Ezekhaial was already walking out of her cell when she looked up.

"I will be back with the test results in a few short moments."

* * *

 _ **Notes**_

 ** _Carre: You don't have to read the other Nobledark Imperium stories if you don't want to, but this story focuses on the mundane civilian life to vigilante outlaws with duelings, bar fights, and shootouts. My other two stories are more focused on the military or inquisitorial parts of the AU._**

 ** _Scorpio-666: It will be revealed in time. Also, one of the reasons why I'm writing is to get better at my grammar and spelling while try to understand storytelling._**

 ** _Guest: Was the British Empire xenophilic?_**


	5. Chapter 4: Free Willing

_"I mean sure most people piss their pants before running from a daemon, it's only natural."_

 _-_ Sgt. Lucinda of the _Daemon_ _Breakers_

Running whatever scripts he had at hand to simulate humor, the Tech-priest was laughing at the results that baffled him twice over. That had only made Aydar the more curious when she finally got the explanation from Ezekhaial.

"Unfortunately you are no longer a baseline Human,"

"Ah! See, I knew she was- What do you mean by 'No longer'?"

"Well, it seems there where clear signs of genetic tampering that she wasn't born with,"

"Don't tell me..."

"Yes, if I cleaned up the messed up genetic codes to a time before she received it,"

Jane was smiling the biggest goofy smug smile that she can put on her face from that news. She didn't think the results would come back favorably to her testimony, despite failing the initial test.

"Jane Shapard, or whoever you actually are, is in fact as close as they come to a baseline pre-Warp travel Human."

The N7 operative interjected with, "So, Officer Aydar. Does that mean you owe me an apology?"

The enforcer quickly turned off the mag-cuffs to let Jane go while saying muffled curses under her breath. Aydar was still concern about one thing though, "We're still going to have to charge you with unlawful entry," before Jane could protest, "Don't worry, I'll drop the charge as soon as we register you into the local enforcer vault. Can't have a person with literally no records to speak of running around in the Imperium, now can we?"

Shepard gave a sheepish grin, "I mean, I would like it if I didn't have a criminal record-"

"Too bad," The enforcer was fast to cut her off before she could continue with that line of thought.

"Okay,"

"What does that mean?"

"Uh?"

"The word you just said, 'oh-kea'," Slowly sounding out the strange word as to not mess up that pronunciation and still be understandable.

"It just means alright,"

Ezekhaial tried to amuse them, "Even more evidence that she comes from times long forgotten,"

"Yea, no. More likely a mutant from a Pastoral-world that has more in common with horses than civilized Humans, no offense," Aydar gave Jane an odd look with a frown when saying these things.

"I don't even know what a Pastoral-world is!" Shepard appeared to be a kid with a grin to the other two.

"Great! Even worst, she could be a Feral-worlder."

Helping her up to her feet, and also creeping out Jane a bit, the Tech-priest then give a tiny bottle to Shepard for some reason.

"What's this?"

"I've concocted a serum that should be able to turn off the green light emitted from the nanites that your body naturally builds. Don't worry, it shouldn't interfere with your bodily function other than preventing signaling people that you're a mutant,"

"Thanks,"

"This is only a temporary solution to people not giving you strange looks or to avoid getting beaten up by gangers. The serum I can make only last about one Terran month, a permanent answer to this glowing problem could be found with a Bio-priest, in the next town over,"

"I'll take a visit there then."

Aydar escorted Shepard by showing where to walk as Jane drank the bottle empty while exiting the cell.

* * *

Fumbling the auto-quill in her hand, Jane filled out upon an endless stream of paperwork thrown at her as entire stacks of files piled up in her arms. There was a form all about the parentage of her along with questions asking the genealogy of her bloodline. Another set of forms were just about under what conditions was she born in and the date of birth. Now, that was a tough question to answer, "What should my date of birth be?" Asking Aydar for some guidance.

"Are you using the Terran standard calendar?"

"Yes,"

"How old are you?"

"Technically 32,"

"Then, technically, you were born in 970 M.39, then fill the rest of the date honestly,"

Putting on her metaphorical thinking cap, Jane figured that putting the date 0 9 11 970 M.39 isn't going to hurt anybody. Her parents always found it interesting that Jane's birthday was such a coincidence to be on November ninth. They would opt out of calling it a birthday and instead say that it was Wall Day, now she wondered if her parents had survived the war and if they did, were they still Alliance military? Shepard's mind drifted as she wrote down more to answer what was surely needless questions the Imperium would want to know about her. Like if she had any 'companion creatures', what did that even mean? Was that just another way of saying pet? If so, why would the government need to know about this for a criminal? The thought escaped her to dwell on if raising a kid while in the military was a good idea. Well she turned out alright, thought Jane, but there was the fact that because both her parents were officers, she never stayed in one place long. To the Shepards, their home was whatever ship they were on. Funny enough, it made the spacers sound more Quarian than Human.

* * *

Thankfully, the glowing was long gone by the time the pic recorder was readying to take a pic. The device set off a blinding flash as both the physical copy of the pic was being printed out while a script copy was being made in the cogitator. Although the device did pick up on the green hue surrounding Jane's body, it wasn't exactly glowing per say. Both the print pic and script pic had the hue but wasn't too obvious unless one was to stare at it intently. For Shepard, it was odd how thick the screens were, seeing as they had this bulky metal back behind the glass while the screen itself had a slight curve to it. She was just so used to having the transparent screens or holograms from back in her time. It was hard to believe that technology has regressed so far back considering that this was the far future. "Shit," Aydar was cursing for a minor typo, "You're going to have to fill out form R153-8 again because somebody in the Administratum fucked up again."

"Oh no, you don't! Let me take a look," Getting her eyeballs fixated on where the problem was on the screen and holding the back of the monitor with the left hand. The officer noticed, even in her slanted seating from being shoved out of the way by the foreigner, that the letters on the screen were being slowly changed without touching the keyboard.

After taking a long look to combe through the entire form, Jane didn't find anything wrong, "It all seems fine to me, you must've misread it,"

That had made Aydar think to herself about how odd that was or it must have been her eyes deceiving her, "I mean it was here," pointing at a part of the screen, "But now it's gone,"

Shepard squinted her eyes to see nothing out of the ordinary, "You must be pulling my leg, there's nothing off there,"

"Why would I pull your leg?" Giving only a baffled look at the strange woman.

"It means to trick somebody,"

"You know it would be easier to just speak bluntly instead of using idioms from 'your time' that nobody alive knows,"

"I mean..." Rubbing her chin before speaking more, "You are right, but where is the fun in that?" with a mischievous grin.

Pricking a blood sample from Shepard's hand then injecting the drops into a machine that looks like a big lock. The officer then looked back at the screen to see that the bloodlock had registered the blood signature for later use and that the local enforcement departmento also knew about her DNA as well. Now things were going to be tricky for Aydar to think up of. Jane Shepard had no home, profession, or possessions to speak of, and dumping her out into the street would end with her being homeless or worst, becoming criminal scum. Not to mention only a few people with the same last name in this world while none of them being her kin. Or at least, have never registered her as a family member. In fact, nobody on this planet has any sort of affiliation with Jane. It appeared to be a clear blank slate was dropped off onto this planet. First thing first, she was to find her a job before anything else. Then a place to stay for a while and get her some money to live by herself.

"So you said that you were a part of this 'Alliance Navy'?" Peeking up from the transcript of the conversation that she wrote down.

"Hard to do that when I've technically died twice,"

"Sure, let's go with that. Was this a marine, void, or merchant navy?"

"Now look at you asking me questions," said with a bit of a tang, "What's the difference between the three?"

"The marine navy, technically navies, is that they are the watercraft fleets under the command of the PDF of a world,"

"Nope,"

"Void navies would be like the Imperial Navy which use voidships to fight, transport, and supply military forces while being outside atmosphere,"

"What about the other one?"

"The Marchant Fleet would be a fine example of that. Voidships organized into a collective which would transport and supply the Imperial Army and civilians,"

"So I guess I was a void navy veteran,"

"I think I've got some work for you yet."

* * *

"Eat up," Aydar said while ushering Jane with a big grin to dig into the meal before her. The 'Imperial Grace Bar' the officer had told Shepard what the name was, it looked like a series of dark chocolate bars piled up on a plate. It was supposed to have 200 calories contained in it as she calculated from what Aydar told her, "Ten of these bars is the daily ration of a Guardsman," under the assumption that Humans still have 2000 calorie diets without being biotics. Funny enough, the food's nickname came from the fact that it was made from meat, vegetables, fruits, and other high nutritional stuff. The idea being that only graceful nobles can eat these things and be barring displays of disgust. Even before touching the foodstuff, there was a strong enough of a smell to knock out the weak-willed amongst the military. Once chewing a bar, Jane immediately noticed that the greasy oil-like substance filled inside was something that made up most of the calories. Something akin to unknown meats and plants was ground down into this thing to give an uneasy flavor. She wanted to spit it all out until finding out that as she steels herself, a bar was already consumed. With unnatural speed, she downed a cup of water without commenting how gross it was.

"Get used to it, those things are the cheapest to nutritional ratio food you're going to find in all of the Imperium," that had only made Jane give a questioning face to Aydar. Not believing the sentence that came out of the enforcer's mouth, again Aydar said, "I'm completely serious! You might have to live off of these things if you don't have enough money,"

That had made the former commander panic at the sheer thought, "Please, you have to help me find me some money,"

"Well..." thinking over what she was about to say, "We _are_ hiring from the locals to help assault an outlaw stronghold,"

"Sign me up, I'll be a walk in the park. I've taken more suicidal missions,"

"What park? Nevermind, I'm just going to need to see if you know how to use an autogun properly,"

Faking a confident face, "I was in the navy for years, how hard can this be?"

* * *

"Why won't this stupid thing fire?" Jane Shepard said while hitting the side of the weapon with her right palm. What she was holding looked to be an odd mix between the ancient Kalashnikov, Armalite, and Sturmgewehr. The magazine was a short stubby little thing holding only 15 rounds inside the rectangular box. In the front was a barrel designed specifically to allow attachable bayonets for charges, or at least that's what Aydar told her, not mentioning that mass charging was useless and suicidal. "Give it to me," Aydar said before inspecting the inside to pick out a round with a knife when it was stuck, "You somehow fucked up reloading, but the tough little shit should be ready to fire now." And sure enough, it was firing like nothing went wrong.

"Are you confident you want to volunteer for this operation?"

"I'm just not used to the recoil that's all," saying while firing off in semi-auto to hit the bullseye.

"What are you used to?"

"I'm just putting too much weight on the gun when I keep predicting that the recoil is going to send me flying back on my ass,"

"Why would you think that? It is only a regular stubber,"

"That's the problem, I'm used to firing off sand grain sized pellets that can punch through body armor, and still have the same recoil as a normal size ballistic round. So, these rounds, what are they?" taking out the magazine to stare at the bullets, "8mm rounds should be sending me straight into the wall behind me,"

"What weapon were you using to make a pellet have the same recoil as an 8mm rifle round!?"

"The guns back in my time have micro-electromagnetic accelerators using eezo to send metal slugs flying out, they would then squash or shatter on impact to transfer more energy on their target-"

"That sounds stupid and convoluted, but go on, I know you aren't finished explaining,"

"As I was saying, that also means the recoil is also equal to the strength of impact on your target, and that's why I'm not used to firing actual bullets. That and the fact I've never used reloaded with the ammo inside the magazine,"

"Then why the hell would you ever reload?"

"I mean because we use pellets as ammo, I only ever needed to reload after combat. But the guns still get very hot from firing off using the mass accelerators, so I had to wait until the weapon vented out the heat after shooting,"

Aydar was almost laughing with a huge grin on her face, "Zoroaster, that sounds so inefficient and stupid, did your people forgot how to fight wars or something?"

"That's why we eventually adopted using thermal clips, which would absorb heat from the gun then eject it to reload another clip once the weapon overheated,"

"You have got to tell me more about your insane wonderland that you come from some other time because I'm going to need to show you to your temporary home."

* * *

 ** _Notes_**

 ** _Axcel: Unless the Space Marine has either enough plot armor or comes from the Raven Guard, they would burn up in the sky or end up splattered on the ground. Also, Nobledark AU was a thing way before 8th edition was even announced so at the time the origin of the Tau was kept mostly mysterious._**

 _ **Supermopowerz: Because this is a Western story and having British cowboys would ruin the whole Dutch settlers in the Wild West aesthetic.**_

 _ **Dekuton: I made them short to give myself the intention of having regular intervals of updates instead of the 9000-word chapters I used to do in one or two sittings. It kept me burnt out and made me stay away from writing for random amounts of time.**_


	6. Chapter 5: Contact

_"If you think about it, everybody has been trying to impose their will upon this universe. Little did they know that they are trying to change the very galaxy itself."_

 _\- Horus Lupercal_

The town was nothing like how it was during the time she came to the Enforcer station. Streets were filled with people going about their business, everything from unloading cargo from the hovercraft to selling trinkets from street stalls. Trying to taking in all the sights that she could, Jane had to quicken her pace to catch up to Aydar. The fast pace while following the Enforcer kept reminding Shepard how the bra sometimes chafed with the shirt as it was too tight near the left armpit. There wasn't exactly plenty of clothing that was her size inside the station itself, thus they were now headed to Aydar's home to either find some old things to give to her or go shopping for new clothing. Thankfully, Aydar's size was only one or two sizes smaller than Jane and she could wear the shirt with the Enforcer emblem. Shirts and pants for the Enforcers looked rather simplistic compared to the more ornate fashion in the Imperium. Although to be fair, the shirts and pants are worn as the first layer of uniform before the extra layer of uniform then a set of armor when out patrolling. The pauldron of the Enforcer's armor set had this intimidating skull on it while the rest of the fabric was dyed navy blue. Combination of unknown thick fabric and metal plates covered the shines, arms, and back of the Enforcer while the breastplate was made from a plate covered in fabric. It did look to actually stop stubber shots and might be tough enough to withstand shrapnel from explosives.

All along the walls and streets of the town were propaganda posters and advertisements. There was an old torn one from at least a year ago which told to join the local Auxiliary Corp for a quick path to citizenship. Three more posters did Jane see as she passed a broken down cargo craft clogging up a street. The Imperial Guard ad promise a life military adventure as the Imperial Navy told that anybody with any skill will find a place to serve God. The last advertisement was from this Hastis Megacorporation that sold toy weapons from swords to stubbers. Bustling with lively on goers that rushed up and down the street, Aydar pressed her hand on a blood lock. The machine attached to the wall pricked her hand before taking a sample of her blood with a needle which caused the door to open. Surprisingly enough, although Shepard thought that this was a door into a much more important place than a garage, it wasn't. There was a great array of speeders parked in this building. She knew they were speeders from the fact they didn't have any wheels and some of them looked to be carrying heavy cargo.

Taking out an actual physical key from her pocket, Jane was shocked by how backward the Imperium is. Aydar would use the key to slot in the speeder then turn it to unlock all the doors.

"So, how high does this thing go?" Perking up in excitement at the prospect of flying around in this odd vehicle as she lowered her head to entered.

Aydar looked back with a raised eyebrow, "20 or 30cm, how high did you think we would be moving around?"

"I don't know, I was thinking about around hundreds of meters high."

Giving off a little giggle that Aydar normally didn't do, "This is a hovercraft that floats just off of the ground, it wasn't made to be used in places like the hive-cities. The town doesn't have any landing pad parking spots to fly to in the first place because it isn't built up vertically enough." After turning on the speeder with another clock-wise motion with the key slot in near the steering wheel. The engine purred awake to give a low growl as the entire speeder shook from hibernation when slowly rising from the floor.

Shepard noticed how even the inanimate objects have a threatening aura around them for the speeder was moving in the same matter as an armored vehicle rather than a civilian transport. That had brought about another question from Jane, "Does this thing have armor plates on it?"

Now that had made Aydar smile with pride, "You don't know how much I saved up to install the plates and a better engine for my ride."

"That seems like overkill to me, I know that you might be targeted and all but really?"

"I don't know what you mean by overkill but yes it is a necessity. After I heard about how Johannes got his ride smashed up by a ganger with a hammer, I'm not taking any chances. Not to mention that you know the planet could be attacked any time by raiders, whether it is Chaos, Orks, Necrons, or Dark Eldar."

The references and names fly right over Jane's head but the need to have even the civilians militarize in such a manner was unheard of, outside of the Turian Hierarchy that is, it means living in the Imperium wasn't as might and safe as she originally thought it was. All of her surroundings sounded and appeared to be eerily similar to the history lessons she had back in officer's academy. Where the Soviet Union had people shot in the streets for drunkenness as the German advanced onto Moscow. The locals enlist in the military for a quick path to citizenship like in the Roman Empire. Seemingly powerful warlords ruling over their own fiefdoms with private forces personally loyal to them but swearing allegiance to a far-off capital and the Emperor. It seems to be that their entire civilization was the epitome of odd mix from different states throughout history which were in a constant total war. Jane dear not ask the question that was gnawing the back of her mind. The question which would explain why it was considered normal to outfit armor plates onto their speeders or the great array of different raiders that could attack a planet at any one time. Unwilling to say the words though, Jane gazed out the glass to watch what looks like soldiers walking around both with and without their armor. They didn't bother the locals and the civilians didn't even pay them no attention. By the way, these troopers looked like they themselves were locals as well. Some were even interacting with the townsfolk like in a very natural nonchalant manner. From Shepard's experience, intermingling between the civilian and military population wasn't this fluid, to say the least. The thought bothered her too much and Jane's mind forced her body to speak the words, "Is the Imperium at war with anybody?"

"Uh?" Turning to glance at the ancient Human as if she asked the wrong question, "What do you mean?"

"I mean it seems to be that the Imperium is at war with somebody to see all these enlistment posters and soldiers."

"Well, the soldiers are just here for show most of the time. You know, garrison duty. They don't actually do any policing or anything like that. That burden lays onto us working for the Enforcers, Arbites, Inquisition, and Ordo Securitas."

"The second part of my question."

"Let me think," Aydar stared for a while as she counted up all of the different factions that were at war with the Imperium. The silence scared Jane until the Enforcer took her eyes off of the empty road for a second, "Rough Necron dynasties that do their own thing like kidnapping planets' worth of people or just straight up killed them."

"What?" Shepard couldn't take that seriously when she remembered how she stopped the Collectors.

"The Orks keep fighting because they love war, the Tyranid xenos that tries to eat all organic matter in this galaxy, traitorous Fallen Marines that have a 10,000-year-old grudge, Crone Eldar from the Eye of Terror, Dark Eldar that tries to enslave everybody else, the other half of the former Tau Empire that refuse to join the Imperium, and who else I'm I missing?"

"I get it, you made your point."

"Oh, yea! The endless amount of rebels, Human supremacist, Eldar supremacist, and frontier states that I can't keep track of."

"That's a lot." The flurry of names, titles, and peoples almost made Jane dizzy at the thought of a state fight all these different things on a galactic level. Nay, it might have been impossible to do such a thing for a protracted period. The idea of fighting so many different things at once was incomprehensible to her. To Shepard, it sounded like a mirror of a Reaper extermination event was falling upon the galaxy except the locals would have the means to defend themselves. It was mindboggling how people lived in normalcy in this world knowing how many different people they were at war with. Once looking back at Aydar even she didn't show any signs of being alarmed with the idea. Turning to stare back outside, Jane saw less and less of the townsfolk walking around outside as there were more empty fields and farms lining up along the road. Eventually, arriving at a one-story house where the speeder parked inside of it.

The building looked less like a house that one might see on a farming colony back in the Alliance and more like a bunker. The walls were thick made from a substance that she didn't know while the roof was only an ever slight slanted, for what she suspected was to allow the rainfall to make its way own to the back of the house. No, a house wasn't the right word to describe the place. It was a hab-block if anything and a truly tough one at that. There was still the same stoic presence about the place that every other building had within this Imperium. It gave the impression of a person staring down at anybody at the entrance. This was the same as how she felt walking into the Enforcer station and now it was the same standing outside to wait while Aydar unlocked the door.

The metal door slid open to let both of them inside to have Shepard's eyes jump around trying to take in everything that she could. At first, it was a surprisingly normal living room, although a bit archaic compared to what Shepard was used to. There was a large box with a screen much like what the cogitators had sitting next to a wall near the center. The couch, if one could call it that, was in front of the screen. She assumed the furniture was a couch even if it lacked back support, well half of one that is. The actual back supporting part of the piece only went up to halfway along the spine of the couch. That and it seemed to be where a person was to lay on their sides to watch the screen, specifically the right side.

"Oh, the headrest is detachable but the back isn't. So, if you want to sit on your left side just plop out the headrest then fit it onto the opposite side."

"Thanks." That was just the thing to say without sounding stupid from questioning how that thing works.

"Don't thank me yet, you're going to be sleeping on that thing until you can get a real bed. I mean sure some people nap on it but that can become really annoying quick if you have to sleep every night on it."

Setting herself down to sit upright on the couch, Jane was sitting the wrong way for Aydar and her whisper of "stommerik" went unnoticed as the Enforcer shook her head.

"I think I can get you some of my older brother's clothing around here somewhere."

And Shepard waited for at least a good five minutes or so until she finally tested out "sitting the right way" as the Imperials would put it. More like the N7 operative simply gave into what was naturally the way she wanted to wait. Extending her legs to give a relaxing muscle stretch, she just laid on her right side facing the screen. Putting her right arm to lay on the headrest while supporting her head upright with said arm. Instinctively, her left hand went to her right forearm in an attempt to activate an interface to turn on the screen, forgetting that it wouldn't do anything. Right as when Jane was playing around with her arm, Aydar walking back into the room holding a bundle of clothing. The former prisoner stared back dumbfounded from the couch before asking, "Uh how do I turn this thing on?"

That had gotten the response of a simple laugh before she put down the pile on a table then grabbed a hand-sized device from next to the screen. Handing the thing over to Jane, it had buttons all over and Aydar said, "This here is the wireless controller, this button here," while pointing at the green dot, "Turn on and off the tele." Shepard immediately hit the button to bring the screen to life which showed a boring person speaking into the camera. The words were dry and his expression was blank as he rattled on about economics.

"And these buttons can change the volume," Aydar pointing at the O and X buttons, "While these buttons control the line you're watching," then moving her fingers in a deliberately slow manner to show the buttons with a + and - on it. That had evoked a face of sure obviousness from Jane who didn't want to be treated as a child. Even though Sheperd knew much about life in the Imperium as a sheltered child.

* * *

 **Notes**

 **Yes, I changed Sheperd's age to an older 32 because when I first wrote the last chapter I didn't actually know the age despite me trying to look it up.**

 **Carre: Probably, I mean if there was no Abhumans and Xenos within this Imperium it wouldn't be too different than vanilla.**

 **The Tech-Priest can still act with the quasi-magical ability to interact with machines, including but not limited to unjamming multiple weapons at once with a wave of a hand. Sort of the same thing with Bio-Priest as well but they actually innovate and scientifically understand what they are doing, being that the Bio-Priest branch of the Mechanicum comes from gene splicers from Terra.**


End file.
